The National Youth Service Corps, Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board, and universities will meet later to harmonise timetable and rollout calendar for the mobilisation of graduates for the mandatory National Youth Service and 2022 admissions following the disruption in the academic calendar as a result of the ongoing industrial actions.
The Secretary-General of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Prof Yakubu Ochefu, disclosed this in an interview with The PUNCH.
He said the heads of JAMB, NYSC and universities would meet to ensure synchronisation of timetables once the strike is called off.
Ochefu said, “If we recall, in 2020, when we had a similar situation, all the parties adjusted their rollout calendars.
“NYSC, JAMB, and the Universities will work together to synchronise their timetables.
“Their leaders will surely meet to review the timelines immediately after the strike is called off.”
Also, the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, Ilorin, Kwara State, has said that it has started mediating in the dispute between ASUU and the Federal Government.
The Director-General of MINILS, Issa Aremu, revealed this in Ilorin while responding to questions on the strike.
“ASUU issues with the Federal Government are labour issues which are technical; the ministers could not resolve them because they lack skills to meditate on the industrial dispute. “There are two issues; dispute of rights and dispute of interest. While ASUU is on a course on the dispute of rights, it is wrong for it to go on strike on the dispute of interest which includes the system of salary payment,” he said.
Aremu, who described the shutting down of universities as worrisome, said, “We are meeting with stakeholders in the education sector, including ASUU, government, students, and parents to ensure that schools are opened. Nigeria cannot meet the development agenda if it continues with the incessant strike by workers.”
He advised workers to always exhaust social dialogue to resolve issues, warning that they should not use strike as a weapon to fight for their rights.
Also, the National Universities Commission has blamed the delay in the take off of projects on the delay in disbursement of funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the industrial actions by university-based unions and the revised budget system in 2022.
The NUC Coordinator, Special Projects, Dr. Joshua Atah, disclosed this while giving an update on the work plan of the Federal Government’s Sustainable Procurement Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement project.
Attah, in the NUC’s bulletin made available to The PUNCH on Sunday in Abuja, was quoted as saying that the commission is engaging with stakeholders to ensure smooth running of the project.
